July 2024
The Economist
The unsteady comeback of the California condor
The bird’s plight is a study in unintended consequences
(A subscription to The Economist is required to read the full article)
By reporter, Aryn Braun
The Economist
The unsteady comeback of the California condor
The bird’s plight is a study in unintended consequences
(A subscription to The Economist is required to read the full article)
By reporter, Aryn Braun
Despite a 2019 ban on lead ammunition in California, lead poisoning remains a significant threat due to restricted access to non-lead alternatives. Also enacted in 2019, the Safety for All Act requires face-to-face transactions of ammunition and prohibits online sales. Since non-lead ammunition remains a very small market share compared to lead, restricting online sales has led to an unintended consequence – higher lead poisoning in California Condors, and probably other wildlife too. On July 4th, 2024, Aryn Braun of the Economist published an excellent article on the subject.
May 2024
KSBW News
Endangered California condor care impacted by Big Sur slip-out
By reporter, Jake Flores
KSBW News
Endangered California condor care impacted by Big Sur slip-out
By reporter, Jake Flores
TV Coverage
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News Articles
2023
September 2023
Reward Doubled to $10K for Information About Condor Shooting
Ventana Wildlife Society Doubles Reward to $10,000 for Information on California Condor Shooting with Support from United States Fish and Wildlife Service
April 2023
San Francisco Chronicle
California Condor Deaths Rise Sharply as Major New Threat Emerges
By CLAIRE HAO | [email protected] |
PUBLISHED: April 12, 2023 | Updated: April 12, 2023 5:17 p.m.
April 2023
The Murcury News
Big Sur Sanctuary for California Condors on the Cusp of Rebirth
By LUIS MELECIO ZAMBRANO | [email protected] |
PUBLISHED: December 19, 2022 at 5:19 a.m. | UPDATED: December 19, 2022 at 4:27 p.m.
Reward Doubled to $10K for Information About Condor Shooting
Ventana Wildlife Society Doubles Reward to $10,000 for Information on California Condor Shooting with Support from United States Fish and Wildlife Service
April 2023
San Francisco Chronicle
California Condor Deaths Rise Sharply as Major New Threat Emerges
By CLAIRE HAO | [email protected] |
PUBLISHED: April 12, 2023 | Updated: April 12, 2023 5:17 p.m.
April 2023
The Murcury News
Big Sur Sanctuary for California Condors on the Cusp of Rebirth
By LUIS MELECIO ZAMBRANO | [email protected] |
PUBLISHED: December 19, 2022 at 5:19 a.m. | UPDATED: December 19, 2022 at 4:27 p.m.
2021
Monterey Herald November 2021
Ventana Wildlife Society is rebuilding its Big Sur Condor Sanctuary from the ashes
KSBW November 2021
Three condors released by Ventana Wildlife Society
CBS SF Bay Area
California condor tracked flying above Mt. Diablo
San Luis Obispo Tribune October 2021
5 California condors prepare to spread their wings in SLO County. Here's how to watch
SFGate August 2021
Lead poisoning is killing an unusually high number of California condors this year
San Luis Obispo Tribune July 2021
5 California Condors have died from lead poisoning this year. Why are they so vulnerable?
VC Star July 2021
California condor populations suffers worst year in decades after deadly wildfire
Smithsonian Magazine June 2021
After Last Year's Deadly Fires, the California Condor Soars Once Again
CNN Feb 16, 2021
California condor eggs laid at Oregon Zoo boost recovery for the endangered species
Ventana Wildlife Society is rebuilding its Big Sur Condor Sanctuary from the ashes
KSBW November 2021
Three condors released by Ventana Wildlife Society
CBS SF Bay Area
California condor tracked flying above Mt. Diablo
San Luis Obispo Tribune October 2021
5 California condors prepare to spread their wings in SLO County. Here's how to watch
SFGate August 2021
Lead poisoning is killing an unusually high number of California condors this year
San Luis Obispo Tribune July 2021
5 California Condors have died from lead poisoning this year. Why are they so vulnerable?
VC Star July 2021
California condor populations suffers worst year in decades after deadly wildfire
Smithsonian Magazine June 2021
After Last Year's Deadly Fires, the California Condor Soars Once Again
CNN Feb 16, 2021
California condor eggs laid at Oregon Zoo boost recovery for the endangered species
2020
The Guardian Aug 26, 2020
Four endangered birds missing
The Mercury News Aug 25, 2020
Condor facility burns in Big Sur fire, fate of some condors unknown
CBS SF Bay Area
Fate of endangered California condors unknown after wildfire destroys sanctuary in Big Sur
The Californian Aug. 24, 2020
Dolan fire burns Big Sur wildlife preserve, threatens endangered California condors
Mashable Aug 21, 2020
Popular wildlife cam just became a dreadful California fire cam
Four endangered birds missing
The Mercury News Aug 25, 2020
Condor facility burns in Big Sur fire, fate of some condors unknown
CBS SF Bay Area
Fate of endangered California condors unknown after wildfire destroys sanctuary in Big Sur
The Californian Aug. 24, 2020
Dolan fire burns Big Sur wildlife preserve, threatens endangered California condors
Mashable Aug 21, 2020
Popular wildlife cam just became a dreadful California fire cam
2019
THE (SAN LUIS OBISPO) TRIBUNE
Two more California condors were released to the wild above San Simeon
BY John Fitzrandoplh
December 9, 2019
Since 2015, 18 juvenile California condors have been released from an enormous fly pen in the rugged, bouldered mountains high above San Simeon. The latest releases of these endangered birds include Minerva (female) and Pigwidgeon (male), who were set free on Nov. 13.
Of the 18 released birds, 15 have survived, according to Joe Burnett, senior wildlife biologist with the Ventana Wildlife Society (VWS) in Big Sur. One of the lost birds’ demise is attributed to lead poisoning; the other is due to drowning in a large uncovered water tank while trying to get a drink. The third bird’s death is not yet understood.
When the four additional juveniles in this year’s cohort — currently waiting release above San Simeon — fly free (perhaps before Christmas), it will bring the total number of recently released juveniles soaring the Central Coast to 19.
“San Simeon is going to be a stop for all the condors,” Burnett said in an email interview. “This is one of the big goals, to basically have an area that is adopted by all the birds. Condors are very social... so just by habit, the San Simeon birds will lead them here (in the next few years).”
The four about to be released — like the last two — are named after characters from the Harry Potter series: Tonks (female), Sirius (male), Narcissa (female) and Cedric (male). They were all raised in captivity at the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho.
The six juveniles are just under 2 years of age, but they are fully grown, featuring jumbo 9 1/2-foot wingspans. However, they will not be mature enough to sport the stark red- orange heads or to be of breeding age until they are approximately 5 years old.
The release area, near the Pine Mountain region 10 miles east of San Simeon, features hollowed out trees and craggy caves, ideal for condor mating and for rearing their young. Condors don’t build nests; they find suitable existing venues.
Presently, there are an estimated 160 California condors flying free in central and southern California, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Roughly 88 of those birds are known to travel to and from Pinnacles, Big Sur and San Simeon. All released juveniles are outfitted with GPS technologies, so collaborators can monitor their movements.
Lead poisoning:
The gravest threat to this prehistoric species is from lead poisoning. Condors are not raptors; they do not hunt but rather they feed on carrion (dead animals). When a rabbit or deer or other game has been shot with lead ammunition, and a condor makes a meal out of that animal, the condor may become seriously ill. Sick birds are transported to the LA Zoo for a painful and difficult hospitalization/rehabilitation period.
In fact, over two-thirds of condor fatalities since 1990 have been caused by lead poisoning, scientists with the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research report.
VWS has worked to mitigate that problem by giving away non-lead ammo; over 6,000 boxes of lead-free (copper) bullets have been distributed to hunters and ranchers in the California condor range since 2012. On July 1, 2019, all of California will be considered the “condor range,” and using lead ammo will be illegal.
To obtain free non-lead ammo, email your full name, address, phone number and choice of rifle caliber and grain to [email protected]. The VWS is also offering a rimfire exchange; VWS will provide non-lead .22 LR or .17 HMR in exchange for lead rounds from hunters and others.
For more information on non-lead ammo and Ventana Wildlife Society, call 831-800-7423.
Two more California condors were released to the wild above San Simeon
BY John Fitzrandoplh
December 9, 2019
Since 2015, 18 juvenile California condors have been released from an enormous fly pen in the rugged, bouldered mountains high above San Simeon. The latest releases of these endangered birds include Minerva (female) and Pigwidgeon (male), who were set free on Nov. 13.
Of the 18 released birds, 15 have survived, according to Joe Burnett, senior wildlife biologist with the Ventana Wildlife Society (VWS) in Big Sur. One of the lost birds’ demise is attributed to lead poisoning; the other is due to drowning in a large uncovered water tank while trying to get a drink. The third bird’s death is not yet understood.
When the four additional juveniles in this year’s cohort — currently waiting release above San Simeon — fly free (perhaps before Christmas), it will bring the total number of recently released juveniles soaring the Central Coast to 19.
“San Simeon is going to be a stop for all the condors,” Burnett said in an email interview. “This is one of the big goals, to basically have an area that is adopted by all the birds. Condors are very social... so just by habit, the San Simeon birds will lead them here (in the next few years).”
The four about to be released — like the last two — are named after characters from the Harry Potter series: Tonks (female), Sirius (male), Narcissa (female) and Cedric (male). They were all raised in captivity at the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho.
The six juveniles are just under 2 years of age, but they are fully grown, featuring jumbo 9 1/2-foot wingspans. However, they will not be mature enough to sport the stark red- orange heads or to be of breeding age until they are approximately 5 years old.
The release area, near the Pine Mountain region 10 miles east of San Simeon, features hollowed out trees and craggy caves, ideal for condor mating and for rearing their young. Condors don’t build nests; they find suitable existing venues.
Presently, there are an estimated 160 California condors flying free in central and southern California, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Roughly 88 of those birds are known to travel to and from Pinnacles, Big Sur and San Simeon. All released juveniles are outfitted with GPS technologies, so collaborators can monitor their movements.
Lead poisoning:
The gravest threat to this prehistoric species is from lead poisoning. Condors are not raptors; they do not hunt but rather they feed on carrion (dead animals). When a rabbit or deer or other game has been shot with lead ammunition, and a condor makes a meal out of that animal, the condor may become seriously ill. Sick birds are transported to the LA Zoo for a painful and difficult hospitalization/rehabilitation period.
In fact, over two-thirds of condor fatalities since 1990 have been caused by lead poisoning, scientists with the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research report.
VWS has worked to mitigate that problem by giving away non-lead ammo; over 6,000 boxes of lead-free (copper) bullets have been distributed to hunters and ranchers in the California condor range since 2012. On July 1, 2019, all of California will be considered the “condor range,” and using lead ammo will be illegal.
To obtain free non-lead ammo, email your full name, address, phone number and choice of rifle caliber and grain to [email protected]. The VWS is also offering a rimfire exchange; VWS will provide non-lead .22 LR or .17 HMR in exchange for lead rounds from hunters and others.
For more information on non-lead ammo and Ventana Wildlife Society, call 831-800-7423.
2018
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
Milpitas' lucky eagle roosts with condors in San Simeon
By Anna-Sofia Lesiv
August 3, 2018
Birds of a feather don’t always flock together.
Lucky, the four-month-old Milpitas eaglet that was taken into care after tumbling out of her nest in mid-June, was released into the wild on July 5th. But instead of being re-united with her parents, she’s making nice with a flock of California condors.
Somewhere just south of Ragged Point, amidst the quiet wilderness of San Simeon and the azure blues of Lakes Nacimiento and San Antonio, now roams Lucky. Though her temporary base is near the condor pen supervised by the Ventana Wildlife Association, soon she will locate the nearby nest of bald eagles, and fly to join them.
“She had the best start that you could ask for,” said Joe Burnett, a specialist at the Ventana Wildlife Association.
Eaglets like Lucky usually stay with their parents while fledgling, but experts decided that returning her to the urban environment of her original nest posed too many dangers for the young raptor.
Around the parents’ nest near Curtner Elementary School, it’s “one wrong move and you get hit by a car; you hit a power line,” said Burnett. She’s now in “a really wild area, with as much room as she wants.”
Flying and hunting are instinctual in eagles, so these are abilities that Lucky can perfect over time. And even without her parents around, the resident eagle population will certainly show her the tricks of the trade.
“Juveniles will tend to gather together and help each other survive,” said Burnett.
He’s convinced that will be the case for Lucky. “I’ll hang my hat on it,” he said.
Condors and bald eagles are both raptors, but apart from that the similarities are scant. From the get-go, the birds are on two separate trajectories. While condors can take years to learn to fend for themselves or fly, eagles reach maturity four years after hatching.
“They tolerate each other,” said Burnett of the birds’ co-existence. “A young eagle has nothing to gain by attacking a condor.”
Besides, the Ventana Wildlife Association ensures that the birds are provided for and there are ample resources to go around. The association offers its released condors food for the first couple of years, a perk that Lucky can take advantage of – at least for the little while that she will stick around. In the first three days that she was monitored at the San Simeon site, she shared a carcass and a tree with her new condor friends.
The cameras set up at the release pen have not picked up sightings of Lucky since July 5th, which means that she may already have migrated to join the neighboring group of eagles.
She’s not equipped with a tracking device but is wearing a tag. So, if spotted again – who knows, perhaps even in her old Milpitas hang out spot, about a 150-mile flight from San Simeon – she will be easily identified.
The eaglet has been the darling of Milpitas birdwatchers, with her parents’ nest a famed spot for locals.
She earned the name ‘Lucky’ due to the remarkable speed and success of her rescue. After falling out of her nest on June 18th, she was taken to the Lindsey Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital in Walnut Creek where she was treated for a bruised wing, and given fluids to prevent dehydration.
After a failed attempt to place her back in her nest with her parents, the bird was returned to the rehabilitation hospital on the evening of June 20th, before being handed off to the California Foundation for Birds of Prey early the next day. After a brief stay, she was transferred to Ventana to be given free rein in the mountains of the central coast.
“She was lucky to have so many rehab organizations that were able to collaborate,” said Aireo Shipman, a wildlife rehabilitation manager at Lindsey. Even with all the expert help, Shipman suggested there was a chance that she wouldn’t have made it.
Raptors like Lucky generally have a low chance of survival.
“If they have 3-4 eggs, only two of them might hatch, and of those, only one might survive its first year,” said Shipman. Burnett noted that Lucky was one of two eaglets in the Milpitas nest.
Considering those odds, this eaglet seems even luckier. However, something tells Shipman that we’re going to start seeing many more such “lucky” eagles in an urban setting like Milpitas.
“We’re starting to overlap in the territories that we share with them,” said Shipman, “Going forward we will start to see more bald eagles in a rehab setting, we’re moving out into their environment.”
Anna-Sofia Lesiv
Anna-Sofia Lesiv is a reporting intern at the Mercury News. Originally from Toronto, Canada, she is currently studying economics and computer science at Stanford University.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/08/03/milpitas-lucky-eagle-roosts-with-condors-in-san-simeon/
August 1, 2018
Milpitas Bald Eagle Gets Help From California Condors
Joe Burnett, VWS Senior Wildlife Biologist
A Bald Eagle that fell from its nest in Milpitas earlier this year has been given a new home in the company of California Condors in San Simeon, California. Despite its fall from the nest, locals have called the eaglet “Lucky”, no doubt due to the unique collaboration that has provided a second chance for the young bird. State and City officials, with help from Pacific Gas & Electric Company, tried replacing Lucky back in the nest, but found that the nest was too high. Lindsay Wildlife Experience, of Walnut Creek, rescued Lucky, and the bird was transferred to California Foundation for Birds of Prey in Roseville. Here, it was discovered that she had ingested lead, but that release back to the wild would be possible after treatment.
Ventana Wildlife Society was called to release Lucky on July 5th, 2018. Fortunately, Ventana Wildlife Society had a suitable release site and facilities, thanks to their current efforts recovering a population of California Condors in the coastal mountains from Big Sur to San Simeon. In fact, thanks to Bald Eagle releases in the 1980s and 1990s, this organization was responsible for the recovery of a breeding Bald Eagle population in central California, where nesting had not occurred in nearly 60 years. Recovered at the federal level and with a growing central California distribution from San Francisco to Santa Barbara, Bald Eagle nesting pairs are appearing even in urban areas like Milpitas. A Bald Eagle pair has nested within the Milpitas city limits the last two years, and successfully raised eaglets in 2017. Releasing Lucky back to Milpitas seemed like a risky proposition, considering the uncertainty she faced in reconnecting with her parents and learning to forage alone in an urban environment. “Since the eagle couldn’t be released with its parents, the condors were the next best thing,” says Kelly Sorenson, Executive Director of Ventana Wildlife Society. “I can’t think of a better place for her,” agrees Carie Battistone, Statewide Raptor Coordinator for California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Now in its new home in the mountains along the central coast, Lucky has a new lease on life. Biologists monitoring the release observed Lucky feeding with condors for at least three days following release. For feeding and navigation, the condors can serve as role models for this eagle. “Bald Eagles are scavengers as well as hunters,” said Sorenson, “so it makes sense for condor feeding to attract a young Bald Eagle.” She was seen again a week following her release, and wildlife officials are calling the release a success. Knowing where to find food and becoming familiar with her surroundings, which include nearby rivers and lakes where Bald Eagles are currently thriving, Lucky is making the most of her second chance at survival.
Founded in 1977, Ventana Wildlife Society led the way to successful reintroduction of the Bald Eagle and the California condor, two of the most iconic birds in the world, to native habitats in central California. Through the course of their work, they developed an organizational culture that strongly values science, education and collaboration and regularly found ways for both wildlife and people to benefit from one another. VWS recovers individual species and tracks the populations of many others so that conservation can be timely as well as effective. Focusing on youth education, we better ensure that future generations have the willingness and capacity to help wildlife. Our vision is to have a society who cares for and supports wildlife across the planet, particularly in California. www.ventanaws.org.
Milpitas' lucky eagle roosts with condors in San Simeon
By Anna-Sofia Lesiv
August 3, 2018
Birds of a feather don’t always flock together.
Lucky, the four-month-old Milpitas eaglet that was taken into care after tumbling out of her nest in mid-June, was released into the wild on July 5th. But instead of being re-united with her parents, she’s making nice with a flock of California condors.
Somewhere just south of Ragged Point, amidst the quiet wilderness of San Simeon and the azure blues of Lakes Nacimiento and San Antonio, now roams Lucky. Though her temporary base is near the condor pen supervised by the Ventana Wildlife Association, soon she will locate the nearby nest of bald eagles, and fly to join them.
“She had the best start that you could ask for,” said Joe Burnett, a specialist at the Ventana Wildlife Association.
Eaglets like Lucky usually stay with their parents while fledgling, but experts decided that returning her to the urban environment of her original nest posed too many dangers for the young raptor.
Around the parents’ nest near Curtner Elementary School, it’s “one wrong move and you get hit by a car; you hit a power line,” said Burnett. She’s now in “a really wild area, with as much room as she wants.”
Flying and hunting are instinctual in eagles, so these are abilities that Lucky can perfect over time. And even without her parents around, the resident eagle population will certainly show her the tricks of the trade.
“Juveniles will tend to gather together and help each other survive,” said Burnett.
He’s convinced that will be the case for Lucky. “I’ll hang my hat on it,” he said.
Condors and bald eagles are both raptors, but apart from that the similarities are scant. From the get-go, the birds are on two separate trajectories. While condors can take years to learn to fend for themselves or fly, eagles reach maturity four years after hatching.
“They tolerate each other,” said Burnett of the birds’ co-existence. “A young eagle has nothing to gain by attacking a condor.”
Besides, the Ventana Wildlife Association ensures that the birds are provided for and there are ample resources to go around. The association offers its released condors food for the first couple of years, a perk that Lucky can take advantage of – at least for the little while that she will stick around. In the first three days that she was monitored at the San Simeon site, she shared a carcass and a tree with her new condor friends.
The cameras set up at the release pen have not picked up sightings of Lucky since July 5th, which means that she may already have migrated to join the neighboring group of eagles.
She’s not equipped with a tracking device but is wearing a tag. So, if spotted again – who knows, perhaps even in her old Milpitas hang out spot, about a 150-mile flight from San Simeon – she will be easily identified.
The eaglet has been the darling of Milpitas birdwatchers, with her parents’ nest a famed spot for locals.
She earned the name ‘Lucky’ due to the remarkable speed and success of her rescue. After falling out of her nest on June 18th, she was taken to the Lindsey Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital in Walnut Creek where she was treated for a bruised wing, and given fluids to prevent dehydration.
After a failed attempt to place her back in her nest with her parents, the bird was returned to the rehabilitation hospital on the evening of June 20th, before being handed off to the California Foundation for Birds of Prey early the next day. After a brief stay, she was transferred to Ventana to be given free rein in the mountains of the central coast.
“She was lucky to have so many rehab organizations that were able to collaborate,” said Aireo Shipman, a wildlife rehabilitation manager at Lindsey. Even with all the expert help, Shipman suggested there was a chance that she wouldn’t have made it.
Raptors like Lucky generally have a low chance of survival.
“If they have 3-4 eggs, only two of them might hatch, and of those, only one might survive its first year,” said Shipman. Burnett noted that Lucky was one of two eaglets in the Milpitas nest.
Considering those odds, this eaglet seems even luckier. However, something tells Shipman that we’re going to start seeing many more such “lucky” eagles in an urban setting like Milpitas.
“We’re starting to overlap in the territories that we share with them,” said Shipman, “Going forward we will start to see more bald eagles in a rehab setting, we’re moving out into their environment.”
Anna-Sofia Lesiv
Anna-Sofia Lesiv is a reporting intern at the Mercury News. Originally from Toronto, Canada, she is currently studying economics and computer science at Stanford University.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/08/03/milpitas-lucky-eagle-roosts-with-condors-in-san-simeon/
August 1, 2018
Milpitas Bald Eagle Gets Help From California Condors
Joe Burnett, VWS Senior Wildlife Biologist
A Bald Eagle that fell from its nest in Milpitas earlier this year has been given a new home in the company of California Condors in San Simeon, California. Despite its fall from the nest, locals have called the eaglet “Lucky”, no doubt due to the unique collaboration that has provided a second chance for the young bird. State and City officials, with help from Pacific Gas & Electric Company, tried replacing Lucky back in the nest, but found that the nest was too high. Lindsay Wildlife Experience, of Walnut Creek, rescued Lucky, and the bird was transferred to California Foundation for Birds of Prey in Roseville. Here, it was discovered that she had ingested lead, but that release back to the wild would be possible after treatment.
Ventana Wildlife Society was called to release Lucky on July 5th, 2018. Fortunately, Ventana Wildlife Society had a suitable release site and facilities, thanks to their current efforts recovering a population of California Condors in the coastal mountains from Big Sur to San Simeon. In fact, thanks to Bald Eagle releases in the 1980s and 1990s, this organization was responsible for the recovery of a breeding Bald Eagle population in central California, where nesting had not occurred in nearly 60 years. Recovered at the federal level and with a growing central California distribution from San Francisco to Santa Barbara, Bald Eagle nesting pairs are appearing even in urban areas like Milpitas. A Bald Eagle pair has nested within the Milpitas city limits the last two years, and successfully raised eaglets in 2017. Releasing Lucky back to Milpitas seemed like a risky proposition, considering the uncertainty she faced in reconnecting with her parents and learning to forage alone in an urban environment. “Since the eagle couldn’t be released with its parents, the condors were the next best thing,” says Kelly Sorenson, Executive Director of Ventana Wildlife Society. “I can’t think of a better place for her,” agrees Carie Battistone, Statewide Raptor Coordinator for California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Now in its new home in the mountains along the central coast, Lucky has a new lease on life. Biologists monitoring the release observed Lucky feeding with condors for at least three days following release. For feeding and navigation, the condors can serve as role models for this eagle. “Bald Eagles are scavengers as well as hunters,” said Sorenson, “so it makes sense for condor feeding to attract a young Bald Eagle.” She was seen again a week following her release, and wildlife officials are calling the release a success. Knowing where to find food and becoming familiar with her surroundings, which include nearby rivers and lakes where Bald Eagles are currently thriving, Lucky is making the most of her second chance at survival.
Founded in 1977, Ventana Wildlife Society led the way to successful reintroduction of the Bald Eagle and the California condor, two of the most iconic birds in the world, to native habitats in central California. Through the course of their work, they developed an organizational culture that strongly values science, education and collaboration and regularly found ways for both wildlife and people to benefit from one another. VWS recovers individual species and tracks the populations of many others so that conservation can be timely as well as effective. Focusing on youth education, we better ensure that future generations have the willingness and capacity to help wildlife. Our vision is to have a society who cares for and supports wildlife across the planet, particularly in California. www.ventanaws.org.
2017
AP NEWS
California condors return to the skies after near extinction
By TERENCE CHEA
Sep. 20, 2017
BIG SUR, Calif. (AP) — In a remote, rugged valley overlooking the Pacific Ocean, researchers closely monitor an endangered icon: the California condor.
The giant vultures flap their wings and circle the sky before perching on branches and observing their observers. Wildlife biologist Amy List uses a handheld antenna to track the birds, which wear radio transmitters and numbered tags.
Ventana Wildlife Society executive director Kelly Sorenson, right, and wildlife biologist Amy List monitor California condors on June 21. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
“If we don’t know what they’re doing, we don’t know what’s going wrong,” said List, who works for the Ventana Wildlife Society, which manages the condor sanctuary in Big Sur.
Three decades after being pushed to the brink of extinction, the California condor is making a comeback in the wild, but constant vigilance is needed to ensure the endangered bird doesn’t reverse course.
One of the world’s largest birds with a wingspan up to 10 feet, the condor once patrolled the sky from Mexico to British Columbia. But its population plummeted in the 20th century due to lead poisoning, hunting and habitat destruction.
In 1987, wildlife officials captured the last remaining 22 condors and took them to the San Diego and Los Angeles zoos to be protected and bred in captivity.
Those efforts have led to a slow but steady recovery for a species that reproduces slowly compared with other birds. There are now roughly 450 condors, including about 270 in the wild in California, Arizona, Utah and northeastern Mexico.
Plans also are underway to release some captive-bred condors in Redwood National Park in 2019 to establish a population near the California-Oregon border.
Federal officials said in August that for the first time in nearly 40 years, condors were roosting in the Blue Ridge National Wildlife Refuge, expanding to their historical range in the southern Sierra Nevada.
A California condor takes flight in the Ventana Wilderness. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Another milestone was reached this summer: the first “third generation” condor was born in the wild in California since the 1980s.
“We’re seeing very encouraging results that the condors can become self-sustaining again,” said Kelly Sorenson, who heads the conservation group.
While condors still face threats from exposure to mercury and the pesticide DDT, biologists say the biggest danger is lead ammunition, which can poison the scavengers when they eat dead animals shot with lead bullets. California banned the use of lead ammunition near condor feeding grounds in 2008 and will be the first state to ban lead bullets in all hunting in 2019.
Wildlife biologist Amy List shows some lead bullets like the ones that kill California condors after the bird eats a contaminated carcass. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
“We’re already starting to see fewer lead deaths. The condors are surviving longer. Their blood-lead levels are coming down,” Sorenson said.
Some gun owners complain that copper bullets are more expensive and less effective than lead and point to other possible sources of lead, such as paint and metal garbage.
“Condors are getting lead poisoning. The question is, are they getting it from lead ammunition?” said Chuck Michel, president of the California Pistol and Rifle Association.
Meanwhile, the San Diego Zoo celebrated the birth of its 200th condor this year.
“While we were caring for the birds, trying to protect them and provide sanctuary, we were literally writing the book how you propagate a species, how you genetically manage it and prepare it for release back in the wild,” Michael Mace, the zoo’s birds curator.
California condors huddle around a watering hole in the Ventana Wilderness east of Big Sur, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
After up to a year at the zoo, chicks are taken to a release site such as the Big Sur sanctuary, where a flock has grown to about 90 condors that travel between Big Sur and Pinnacles National Park. They scavenge, breed and raise chicks on their own, under the close watch of List, the wildlife biologist, and her colleagues.
“I hope that I’m out of a job soon because condors don’t need to be managed in the future,” she said. “I hope that they’re self-sustaining and wild and free, and nobody needs to trap or tag or monitor them at all.”
In this Wednesday, June 21, 2017 photo, Ventana Wildlife Society executive director Kelly Sorenson poses for a portrait inside a cabin used by researchers to study California condors in the Ventana Wilderness east of Big Sur, Calif. Three decades after being pushed to the brink of extinction, the California condor is staging an impressive comeback, thanks to captive-breeding programs and reduced use of lead ammunition near their feeding grounds. “We’re seeing very encouraging results that the condors can become self-sustaining again,” said Sorenson. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
In this Wednesday, June 21, 2017 photo, Wildlife biologist Amy List observes California condors up close from inside an enclosure in the Ventana Wilderness east of Big Sur, Calif. Three decades after being pushed to the brink of extinction, the California condor is staging an impressive comeback, thanks to captive-breeding programs and reduced use of lead ammunition near their feeding grounds. “If we don’t know what they’re doing, we don’t know what’s going wrong,” said List. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
In this Wednesday, June 21, 2017 photo, a California condor sits perched on a tree branch in the Ventana Wilderness east of Big Sur, Calif. Three decades after being pushed to the brink of extinction, the California condor is staging an impressive comeback, thanks to captive-breeding programs and reduced use of lead ammunition near their feeding grounds. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY
The biggest condor recovery milestone yet: a second-generation wild-born condor.
By David Schmalz
August 10, 2017
Ventana Wildlife Society biologists discovered July 6 that Condor 538 (Miracle) and Condor 574 (Nomad), both of whom were born in the wild, made a nest together this year in southern Big Sur. It is the first known nest of wild-born California condors in the state since 1985.
But that’s not all: They have a chick in their nest, the first second-generation wild-born condor in decades.
For VWS biologists, it’s cause for celebration – and evidence their reintroduction efforts, along with outreach to hunters and ranchers about the dangers lead bullets pose to condors, are working.
“It shows the condor is on the way to full recovery,” says VWS Executive Director Kelly Sorenson. “I’m thrilled.”
VWS senior wildlife biologist Joe Burnett was among those who set out on foot to spot the nest after being tipped off by the GPS tracker on Miracle. It required hiking several miles off-trail, which is no small feat in the steep, thick growth of Big Sur’s canyons.
“Getting to these spots, even with all this technology, is brutal,” he says, but adds that when he finally spotted the nest, occupied by two birds he watched grow up, it was worth it.
“When they were born it was a huge milestone, and for them to survive and raise their own, it’s twice as good.”
The federal government listed California condors as an endangered species in 1967, after decades of decline due to the birds eating carcasses left by hunters or ranchers that contained lead bullets. Lead from fragments of those bullets, which the condors might inadvertently eat while feeding, can paralyze the digestive systems of condors, which leads to starvation.By 1982, only 22 remained in the wild, and over the next five years, biologists began collecting them so they could be bred in captivity and escape extinction.
VWS began releasing captive-bred condors in Big Sur in 1997, and in 2008, a chick from a wild-laid egg fledged in Big Sur for the first time in decades.
There are now 276 California condors in the wild, but Sorenson says it’s too early to declare victory: If VWS were to stop their releases, the lead mortality in the flock would still outpace population growth. The solution, he says, is continued releases and outreach to hunters and ranchers, who Sorenson says are increasingly receptive to the message about the dangers of lead bullets to wildlife. To that end, VWS has distributed 4,500 boxes of copper ammunition since 2012.
“It’s all going in the right direction,” Sorenson says. “It just takes time.”
Central Coast Bald Eagles Now Fully Restored - A Foreshadowing for the California Condor
Kelly Sorenson, VWS Executive Director
In this month's issue of the Journal of Raptor Research, a peer-reviewed paper documents how local biologists from Ventana Wildlife Society (VWS) restored bald eagles to central California and how the birds have done over the last 25 years. For lead author and VWS Executive Director Kelly Sorenson, "Publishing this paper was a bucket list thing for me as I worked as a field biologist in the early 1990's when we were releasing eagles to the wild. We only got around to writing this up after making serious headway on the recovery of the California Condor"
Between 1986 and 1994, 66 bald eagles were released in Big Sur, California, at the same site of the present-day Condor Sanctuary owned and managed by VWS. Young eagles still in the nest were collected from Alaska, British Columbia and northern California and were brought to Big Sur California for release. "A lot of people don't know that for 60 years bald eagles were absent from central California during the summer breeding season. The species almost went extinct but now we have a robust and growing population of bald eagles", Sorenson said. [See graphic below for locations of nesting pairs] This year, we believe there are at least 30 breeding pairs from Marin to Santa Barbara County.
For Sorenson, he sees a parallel between bald eagle and California Condor recovery in central California. First, many people doubted if it was possible to recover these two species to the wild. Second, for both species, one major obstacle was the primary cause of their decline and when effectively dealt with, the populations began to rise. Bald eagles were nearly wiped out by the use of the pesticide DDT, which causes eggshell thinning in birds. Their recovery is a result of the banning of DDT in 1972 and in central California it is because of the efforts of VWS' reintroduction program. California Condors are now showing positive signs of recovery as well due to ongoing efforts to minimize the threat of lead poisoning from ingested spent ammunition – the primary obstacle to condor recovery. For more information about the VWS nonlead ammunition program, go to http://www.ventanaws.org/ammunition/
"For both the California Condor and the Bald Eagle, their recovery is only made possible due to the passage of the Endangered Species Act and a whole lot of people who care enough to save them", said Sorenson. "Both species give us hope for wildlife conservation and our ability to take care of the planet and the ecosystem."
California condors return to the skies after near extinction
By TERENCE CHEA
Sep. 20, 2017
BIG SUR, Calif. (AP) — In a remote, rugged valley overlooking the Pacific Ocean, researchers closely monitor an endangered icon: the California condor.
The giant vultures flap their wings and circle the sky before perching on branches and observing their observers. Wildlife biologist Amy List uses a handheld antenna to track the birds, which wear radio transmitters and numbered tags.
Ventana Wildlife Society executive director Kelly Sorenson, right, and wildlife biologist Amy List monitor California condors on June 21. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
“If we don’t know what they’re doing, we don’t know what’s going wrong,” said List, who works for the Ventana Wildlife Society, which manages the condor sanctuary in Big Sur.
Three decades after being pushed to the brink of extinction, the California condor is making a comeback in the wild, but constant vigilance is needed to ensure the endangered bird doesn’t reverse course.
One of the world’s largest birds with a wingspan up to 10 feet, the condor once patrolled the sky from Mexico to British Columbia. But its population plummeted in the 20th century due to lead poisoning, hunting and habitat destruction.
In 1987, wildlife officials captured the last remaining 22 condors and took them to the San Diego and Los Angeles zoos to be protected and bred in captivity.
Those efforts have led to a slow but steady recovery for a species that reproduces slowly compared with other birds. There are now roughly 450 condors, including about 270 in the wild in California, Arizona, Utah and northeastern Mexico.
Plans also are underway to release some captive-bred condors in Redwood National Park in 2019 to establish a population near the California-Oregon border.
Federal officials said in August that for the first time in nearly 40 years, condors were roosting in the Blue Ridge National Wildlife Refuge, expanding to their historical range in the southern Sierra Nevada.
A California condor takes flight in the Ventana Wilderness. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Another milestone was reached this summer: the first “third generation” condor was born in the wild in California since the 1980s.
“We’re seeing very encouraging results that the condors can become self-sustaining again,” said Kelly Sorenson, who heads the conservation group.
While condors still face threats from exposure to mercury and the pesticide DDT, biologists say the biggest danger is lead ammunition, which can poison the scavengers when they eat dead animals shot with lead bullets. California banned the use of lead ammunition near condor feeding grounds in 2008 and will be the first state to ban lead bullets in all hunting in 2019.
Wildlife biologist Amy List shows some lead bullets like the ones that kill California condors after the bird eats a contaminated carcass. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
“We’re already starting to see fewer lead deaths. The condors are surviving longer. Their blood-lead levels are coming down,” Sorenson said.
Some gun owners complain that copper bullets are more expensive and less effective than lead and point to other possible sources of lead, such as paint and metal garbage.
“Condors are getting lead poisoning. The question is, are they getting it from lead ammunition?” said Chuck Michel, president of the California Pistol and Rifle Association.
Meanwhile, the San Diego Zoo celebrated the birth of its 200th condor this year.
“While we were caring for the birds, trying to protect them and provide sanctuary, we were literally writing the book how you propagate a species, how you genetically manage it and prepare it for release back in the wild,” Michael Mace, the zoo’s birds curator.
California condors huddle around a watering hole in the Ventana Wilderness east of Big Sur, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
After up to a year at the zoo, chicks are taken to a release site such as the Big Sur sanctuary, where a flock has grown to about 90 condors that travel between Big Sur and Pinnacles National Park. They scavenge, breed and raise chicks on their own, under the close watch of List, the wildlife biologist, and her colleagues.
“I hope that I’m out of a job soon because condors don’t need to be managed in the future,” she said. “I hope that they’re self-sustaining and wild and free, and nobody needs to trap or tag or monitor them at all.”
In this Wednesday, June 21, 2017 photo, Ventana Wildlife Society executive director Kelly Sorenson poses for a portrait inside a cabin used by researchers to study California condors in the Ventana Wilderness east of Big Sur, Calif. Three decades after being pushed to the brink of extinction, the California condor is staging an impressive comeback, thanks to captive-breeding programs and reduced use of lead ammunition near their feeding grounds. “We’re seeing very encouraging results that the condors can become self-sustaining again,” said Sorenson. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
In this Wednesday, June 21, 2017 photo, Wildlife biologist Amy List observes California condors up close from inside an enclosure in the Ventana Wilderness east of Big Sur, Calif. Three decades after being pushed to the brink of extinction, the California condor is staging an impressive comeback, thanks to captive-breeding programs and reduced use of lead ammunition near their feeding grounds. “If we don’t know what they’re doing, we don’t know what’s going wrong,” said List. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
In this Wednesday, June 21, 2017 photo, a California condor sits perched on a tree branch in the Ventana Wilderness east of Big Sur, Calif. Three decades after being pushed to the brink of extinction, the California condor is staging an impressive comeback, thanks to captive-breeding programs and reduced use of lead ammunition near their feeding grounds. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY
The biggest condor recovery milestone yet: a second-generation wild-born condor.
By David Schmalz
August 10, 2017
Ventana Wildlife Society biologists discovered July 6 that Condor 538 (Miracle) and Condor 574 (Nomad), both of whom were born in the wild, made a nest together this year in southern Big Sur. It is the first known nest of wild-born California condors in the state since 1985.
But that’s not all: They have a chick in their nest, the first second-generation wild-born condor in decades.
For VWS biologists, it’s cause for celebration – and evidence their reintroduction efforts, along with outreach to hunters and ranchers about the dangers lead bullets pose to condors, are working.
“It shows the condor is on the way to full recovery,” says VWS Executive Director Kelly Sorenson. “I’m thrilled.”
VWS senior wildlife biologist Joe Burnett was among those who set out on foot to spot the nest after being tipped off by the GPS tracker on Miracle. It required hiking several miles off-trail, which is no small feat in the steep, thick growth of Big Sur’s canyons.
“Getting to these spots, even with all this technology, is brutal,” he says, but adds that when he finally spotted the nest, occupied by two birds he watched grow up, it was worth it.
“When they were born it was a huge milestone, and for them to survive and raise their own, it’s twice as good.”
The federal government listed California condors as an endangered species in 1967, after decades of decline due to the birds eating carcasses left by hunters or ranchers that contained lead bullets. Lead from fragments of those bullets, which the condors might inadvertently eat while feeding, can paralyze the digestive systems of condors, which leads to starvation.By 1982, only 22 remained in the wild, and over the next five years, biologists began collecting them so they could be bred in captivity and escape extinction.
VWS began releasing captive-bred condors in Big Sur in 1997, and in 2008, a chick from a wild-laid egg fledged in Big Sur for the first time in decades.
There are now 276 California condors in the wild, but Sorenson says it’s too early to declare victory: If VWS were to stop their releases, the lead mortality in the flock would still outpace population growth. The solution, he says, is continued releases and outreach to hunters and ranchers, who Sorenson says are increasingly receptive to the message about the dangers of lead bullets to wildlife. To that end, VWS has distributed 4,500 boxes of copper ammunition since 2012.
“It’s all going in the right direction,” Sorenson says. “It just takes time.”
Central Coast Bald Eagles Now Fully Restored - A Foreshadowing for the California Condor
Kelly Sorenson, VWS Executive Director
In this month's issue of the Journal of Raptor Research, a peer-reviewed paper documents how local biologists from Ventana Wildlife Society (VWS) restored bald eagles to central California and how the birds have done over the last 25 years. For lead author and VWS Executive Director Kelly Sorenson, "Publishing this paper was a bucket list thing for me as I worked as a field biologist in the early 1990's when we were releasing eagles to the wild. We only got around to writing this up after making serious headway on the recovery of the California Condor"
Between 1986 and 1994, 66 bald eagles were released in Big Sur, California, at the same site of the present-day Condor Sanctuary owned and managed by VWS. Young eagles still in the nest were collected from Alaska, British Columbia and northern California and were brought to Big Sur California for release. "A lot of people don't know that for 60 years bald eagles were absent from central California during the summer breeding season. The species almost went extinct but now we have a robust and growing population of bald eagles", Sorenson said. [See graphic below for locations of nesting pairs] This year, we believe there are at least 30 breeding pairs from Marin to Santa Barbara County.
For Sorenson, he sees a parallel between bald eagle and California Condor recovery in central California. First, many people doubted if it was possible to recover these two species to the wild. Second, for both species, one major obstacle was the primary cause of their decline and when effectively dealt with, the populations began to rise. Bald eagles were nearly wiped out by the use of the pesticide DDT, which causes eggshell thinning in birds. Their recovery is a result of the banning of DDT in 1972 and in central California it is because of the efforts of VWS' reintroduction program. California Condors are now showing positive signs of recovery as well due to ongoing efforts to minimize the threat of lead poisoning from ingested spent ammunition – the primary obstacle to condor recovery. For more information about the VWS nonlead ammunition program, go to http://www.ventanaws.org/ammunition/
"For both the California Condor and the Bald Eagle, their recovery is only made possible due to the passage of the Endangered Species Act and a whole lot of people who care enough to save them", said Sorenson. "Both species give us hope for wildlife conservation and our ability to take care of the planet and the ecosystem."
2016 and earlier
July 18, 2016 - National Geographic Magazine “Condors Reach New Milestone of Survival, Thanks to Tree-Climbing Biologists”
August 29, 2015 - The Washington Post “These live cameras will let you watch rare baby California condors grow up”
August 29, 2014 - New York Times “Saving Our Birds”
April 25, 2014 - The Christian Science Monitor “Long-struggling California condor may soar again”
January 8, 2014 - Natural History Magazine “Barely pulled back from the brink of extinction, California condors are still being poisoned by lead-based ammunition”
August 29, 2015 - The Washington Post “These live cameras will let you watch rare baby California condors grow up”
August 29, 2014 - New York Times “Saving Our Birds”
April 25, 2014 - The Christian Science Monitor “Long-struggling California condor may soar again”
January 8, 2014 - Natural History Magazine “Barely pulled back from the brink of extinction, California condors are still being poisoned by lead-based ammunition”
Video Coverage
Soaring with the Mighty California Condor - Check out Executive Director Kelly Sorenson on California Live discussing the condors' Big Sur Sanctuary and more, with NBC correspondent, Ross Thomas.
